This invention relates generally to an enclosure boot for an automobile floor-mounted gear shift lever and, more particularly, to an improved support boot cover and bezel frame attachment arrangement to enclose the gap between the movable lever and an opening in the vehicle floor pan through which the lever passes.
An example of a prior art boot cover for a floor-mounted transmission is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,081 issued June 11, 1985 to Mackin et al. The Mackin et al. patent discloses a boot cover for enclosing a pivotally mounted automobile transmission shift lever having converging sidewalls formed in part by a plurality of spherically shaped surfaces which support rolling contact between adjacent surfaces during shifting of the shift lever from the neutral position.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,099 issued Apr. 19, 1977 to O'Brien et al. provides an incidental disclosure of still another type of boot cover and bezel arrangement for enclosing a automobile shift linkage control.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,068 issued Dec. 16, 1975 to Jantzen et al. provides still another incidental disclosure of a shift lever ball member arranged between two approximately hemispherically shaped rubber sleeves and a boot type rubber sleeve for covering the entire joint-like lead-through assembly.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,834 issued Oct. 21, 1986 to Foggini shows a one piece covering comprising a center sheath enclosing the shift lever and terminated at one end with a knob grip which includes a lever check seat, and at the other end with a bellows seal formed with a groove adapted to cooperate with a mating check seat provided in a vehicle console.